Rip’s Toast to Hudson (1896)

Rip’s Toast to Hudson (1896)
Article 5634 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-19-2019
Directed by William K. L. Dickson
Featuring Joseph Jefferson
Country: USA
What it is: The fifth episode of the first serial

Rip Van Winkle makes a toast and has a strange reaction.

I’ll dispense with a repeat of the historical context of this short that I covered in the second episode. This is perhaps one of the more entertaining of the episodes; he’s partying with the dwarfs and makes a toast, but then starts having a strange reaction. I suspect that it’s the moment when the grog he is drinking is starting to overcome him and he’s preparing for his deep sleep. The story as a whole has definite fantastic content, but like the previous one I’ve covered, the primary fantastic content here is the presence of the dwarfs, although if you didn’t know the story, you probably wouldn’t know who they were.

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Rip Meeting the Dwarf (1896)

Rip Meeting the Dwarf (1896)
Article 5633 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-18-2019
Directed by William K. L. Dickson
Featuring Joseph Jefferson
Country: USA
What it is: The second episode of the first serial

Rip Van Winkle meets a dwarf.

First, here’s a little background. In 1896, director William K. L. Dickson made a series of eight films that told the story of Rip Van Winkle. The reason he split the story into eight films was simple; at this time in history, you simply couldn’t make a movie longer than a minute or so, and telling the whole story in one go would have been (for that era) epic. The eight movies would in 1903 be collected together into a single movie called RIP VAN WINKLE. I’ve already covered that film, but since IMDB also has a separate listing for all eight early films, and some of the segments have been classified as fantasy on that site, I have an excuse to review them separately. However, only three of the eight films have been classified as such, so those are the only ones I’ll be covering.

That being said, there’s not a lot to be said for any one of these segments individually, largely because so little happens. This segment plays out just as the title describes; Rip meets a dwarf. Taken on its own, the dwarf’s existence is the sole fantastic content, and that’s only if we use the fantasy definition of a dwarf rather than the real-life definition of meeting someone like Billy Barty or Angelo Rossitto. Any further critical evaluation is rather pointless.

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Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)

Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)
Article 5632 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-17-2019
Director unknown
Featuring Carl Goliath, Topsy
Country: USA
What it is: Unpleasant documentary.

Topsy the elephant is electrocuted.

One of the unexpected things I found myself contending with as a result of this movie-watching/review project was dealing with movies that someone considered as belonging to the fantastic genres but which, to my eyes, didn’t seem to fit; I often had to stretch my mind to conceive as to why someone would classify them as such, and I included those guesses in my reviews. For example, I never would have expected this silent short to qualify for my project, but someone on IMDB decided to classify this one as “horror”. Well, I will agree it’s horrifying, but that’s not quite the same thing. Still, I can understand someone making this classification.

Well, whether it qualifies or not, it is definitely an upsetting viewing experience, especially for animal lovers. I’ve heard the movie was made by Edison to demonstrate the dangers of alternating current. I’ve also heard the animal was electrocuted as a publicity stunt to promote Luna Park at Coney Island, and that the animal had become impossible to handle. It doesn’t matter to me which explanation is correct; it doesn’t change the fact that the movie is exploitation at its nastiest; it’s an elephant snuff film. Despite its historical value, I wouldn’t recommend this short to anyone.

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The Cabbage Fairy (1896)

The Cabbage Fairy (1896)
aka La fee aux choux
Article 5631 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-16-2019
Directed by Alice Guy
Featuring Alice Guy, Germaine Serand, Yvonne Serand
Country: France
What it is: Not this easy in real life

A cabbage fairy plucks babies out of a cabbage patch.

If you’ve ever been asked by a child where babies come from, and you’re too uptight to tell them truth, you can show them this early silent short; however, if they never took you seriously after that, that’s your problem. Be aware that the movie I saw on YouTube may not be this movie at all; at least one of the user comments on IMDB points out that the movie is lost, and this is a remake from four years later. It also lays claim to being the first fiction movie (implying, of course, that the cabbage fairy is not real), which would mean that it beat out Melies’s LE MANOIR DU DIABLE. At any rate, watching it gave me something quick to review at a time when I’ve slowed down my reviewing routine quite a bit. And I do love covering these very early silents.

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The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
aka Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
Article 5630 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-12-2019
Directed by Lotte Reiniger and Carl Koch
No cast
Country: Germany
What it is: Arabian nights in silhouette animation

An evil sorcerer creates a magical flying horse in an attempt to claim the daughter of a Caliph for his own. The Caliph’s son, Prince Achmed, tries to prevent the scheme, but is spirited away by the flying horse. Can he prevent the sorcerer from prevailing?

This may well be the first feature-length animated movie, a good ten years before SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. I suspect the reason its historical significance is often overlooked is due to the fact that Lotte Reiniger and her silhouette animations are consigned to the fringes of the medium; despite Reiniger’s animation skills, the style never really became popular. The story is a compendium of Arabian Nights cliches, and I suspect a few stories were conflated into the mix; Aladdin and his lamp make appearances in the second half of the movie. I think this movie is well worth seeing; Reiniger’s animation is evocative and capable of expressing real emotion, which is quite surprising when your figures are only silhouettes. No, it will never achieve the fame of Disney’s accomplishments, but it earns its place in the history of animation.

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The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
Article 5629 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 2-4-2019
Directed by Irving Rapper
Featuring Fredric March, Alexis Smith, Donald Crisp
Country: USA
What it is: Biopic

The life of Mark Twain is shown.

Let’s get the fantastic content out of the way first. The movie is being told by the spirit of Mark Twain, and miniature versions of some of his characters appear at one point. Furthermore, Tom, Huck and Jim appear as friends of Twain in his early years, which seems to imply they’re real people rather than fictional creations. Then there’s a final scene where Twain accompanies his fictional characters to heaven. Though this all remains a bit on the marginal side, the content is nonetheless there.

As for the movie itself, it’s an entertaining enough biopic on the great 19th century humorist, and it’s anchored by an excellent performance by Fredric March in the title role; his Twain always feels like a real human being. Early on in the movie I had to remind myself of a rule I follow whenever I see a Hollywood movie based on true events, and that was not to expect or demand accuracy; the movie is full of neatly-contrived scenes that feel much more like creations from a Hollywood writer than like anything that really happened, and some of the user comments on IMDB imply that the movie is rife with inaccuracies. Still, if it’s accuracy you want, you’re better off with a well-researched biography. Take the movie as a tribute to the man, and you’ll be much more satisfied by it. I do have one caveat; though many of his books are mentioned, I found no reference to his work with the most marked fantastic content, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT.

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The Adventures of * (1957)

The Adventures of * (1957)
aka The Adventures of an Asterisk
Article 5628 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-26-2019
Directed by John Hubley
No cast
Country: USA
What it is: Animated short

A little asterisk takes a frolicking, fun-loving approach to life, despite the scorn of his fuddy-duddy father. However, the asterisk ages and becomes a father himself…. but will he lose his sense of wonder and love of life?

Though there’s plenty of abstract imagery in this animated short, the primary fantastic content is, of course, an anthropomorphized punctuation symbol. However, it should be pointed out that the story itself doesn’t require that the hero be a punctuation symbol; it would work just the same if the hero was a human being, which is pretty much what the anthropomorphism accomplishes. Nevertheless, it’s a fun and enjoyable short, and the jazz soundtrack (from Benny Carter and Lionel Hampton) is excellent. I’m also glad to say that it chose the ending I didn’t expect rather than the one it seemed to be pointing to; it’s nice to have an upbeat story that buoys you up.

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Erlebnisse der Puppe (1966)

Erlebnisse der Puppe (1966)
aka The Adventures of a Doll
Article 5627 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-24-2019
Directed by Franz Winzentsen
No cast
Country: West Germany
What it is: Surreal animated short

A doll with elephant legs plays games and explores the world around her.

The animation is of a style somewhere between a Terry Gilliam animation and FANTASTIC PLANET, and though it feels somewhat comic in the beginning, it takes a darker and more disturbing turn as the short progresses. That’s not to say there’s a whole lot to point to that clearly makes it disturbing (though there’s a shot of what looks like a badly hurt duck at one point); it’s the generally ominous air of the imagery that starts to put you on edge. There doesn’t seem to be an easily summarized story line here, nor can individual events be easily described, as it involves encounters with unidentifiable creatures and things. This is one strange foray into animation.

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Rendezvous in Space (1964)

Rendezvous in Space (1964)
Article 5626 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-23-2019
Directed by Frank Capra
Featuring Marcia McBroom, Jim Backus, Mel Blanc
Country: USA
What it is: Short documentary about space exploration

There’s really no plot to this documentary about space travel; in fact, I’m not sure whether it really has much in the way of a real focus. After an opening in which we see captioned footage of the Earth as seen from a capsule in outer space, we are treated to faked “man on the street” interviews (many of those interviewed are well-known character actors such as Sid Melton and Charles Lane), various animated bits about various aspects of space exploration, and a few predictions of developments that would occur in the near future of space exploration. It was Frank Capra’s last film, and it was filmed for the Marietta Corporation and was shown at the Hall of Science Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. If anything is holding it together, it’s the sense of wonder and adventure that pervaded the space race at the time. It makes for an entertaining watch, but the scattershot feel of the short prevents it from having any real focused impact.

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Przygoda w paski (1960)

Przygoda w paski (1960)
aka An Adventure in Stripes
Article 5625 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-22-2019
Directed by Alina Maliszewska
No cast
Country: Poland
What it is: Animated short

A lonely female striped elephant is rejected by the herd of white elephants she follows. Meanwhile, a lonely male striped elephant is rejected by the herd of black elephants he follows. What will happen when these two striped elephants meet?

I think most anyone could make a guess as to what would happen when these two elephants meet, so I can’t exactly say that unpredictability plays a big role in this animated short. Fortunately, it’s the character touches that lift this one up. The hunger of two elephants for love and their affinity for dealing with children (elephants) in a positive way make you feel their yearning for love and companionship. And there is at least one plot point that isn’t easily predictable. I’m not sure if this is the first Polish animated short I’ve encountered for this series, but I found this one fairly entertaining and likable.

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